Danish international shipping and logistics company DFDS has entered into two mutual space charter agreements with the Luxembourg-based short sea specialist Compagnie Luxembourgeoise d'Navigation (CLdN) CLdN that also operates a freight ferry route between Gothenburg and Zeebrugge.
In June 2019, DFDS opened a freight ferry route between Gothenburg, Sweden, and Zeebrugge, Belgium, that currently deploys three freight ferries offering five weekly departures in each direction.
However, in order to optimize capacity utilization and reduce the environmental impact, DFDS has entered into two mutual space charter agreements with CLdN that also operates a freight ferry route between Gothenburg and Zeebrugge.
The space charter agreements entail that capacity is shared between route operators while all commercial activities remain entirely under the control of each operator.
“We are very pleased to announce our new space charter agreements. The flexibility of the agreements entails that we reduce the environmental footprint while offering a total of ten weekly departures in each direction on our two routes between Sweden and Belgium to support trade and the growth of our customers”, says Peder Gellert Pedersen, Executive Vice President, DFDS Group, and Head of Ferry Division.
The space charter agreements are expected to start on 1 January 2020. When the agreements are fully implemented, DFDS and CLdN are each expected to deploy one freight ferry on their respective routes between Gothenburg and Zeebrugge. In addition, DFDS operates a route between Gothenburg and Ghent in Belgium.
DFDS expects in Q2 2020 to replace the three freight ferries currently deployed on Gothenburg-Zeebrugge with one mega freight ferry newbuilding that can carry 6,700 lane meters of freight per departure. The ferries that are replaced are expected to be deployed elsewhere in DFDS’ European route network.